L and S

I can guess how much poop is in an infant size ostomy bag before I even have to suck it out with a syringe.  Do you think I could put that on my resume somewhere?  These last few months have been a surreal experience and I cannot WAIT to tell you all about it. 

So in May Andy and I started talking about maybe trying to get pregnant again.  We were thinking we would try in July so that the timing would be ideal for my work season.  No sooner had we uttered the words, "maybe" and "baby" when God decided, "NOW."  June 8th I discovered I was pregnant.  June 21 I discovered I was pregnant with twins.  September 3rd I discovered I was pregnant with twin boys.  Every day in between I was sick.  October 22nd I was admitted to Mother-Baby in Abbott for pre-term labor.  I was 23 weeks pregnant and I stayed in the hospital for a week on a lot of IV anti-labor medication.  I went home at 24 weeks and sat on my butt for 2 weeks.  At 26 weeks exactly, I walked from the basement to the kitchen, did a couple dishes, and walked back downstairs.  The doctor that discharged me insisted that this would be fine as new studies proved true bed-rest to be less successful as previously determined.  I knew better.  My friend from church drove me back to the hospital where I was taken by ambulance to Abbott Northwestern, the only NICU to care for infants born between 23 and 32 weeks.  I sat for 3 days in the hospital on more medicine and on November 13th the same doctor that discharged me the first time was rounding, so I told Andy to pack my bags.  Sure enough Dr Wagner came by and said to start thinking about discharge and he wanted to pull me off all anti-labor meds as I was having some mild side effects.  Not even an hour after he stopped my Nifedipine, I began contracting again and within an hour of that the emergency C-Section was ordered by none other than Dr Wagner himself.  Andy had the day off so he and Charlie had been in my room spending a little time with me before I came home.  I had a remote attached to my bed with power controls for the drapes on my window.  Andy had convinced Charlie earlier in the visit that Charlie could control the movement of the drapes with a certain voice command.  Charles loves the show, "Jake and the Neverland Pirates," so Andy told Charlie if he stood facing the drapes and yelled, "AHOY!" they would go up and down- all while Andy was pushing the remote buttons.  I watched the power of Charlie's voice command and Andy's manipulation go straight to both their heads and it proved an entertaining mix-up for my otherwise boring day.  Everything changed when the C-Section was ordered.  You would think with all the pre-term labor I experienced I would've expected to probably deliver early, but I couldn't believe it was happening.  I knew the odds of survival, never mind living a normal life were rough for babies born as early as mine would be.  Labor nurses were scurrying, Doctor Wagner was checking my progress every few minutes to make sure I wasn't going to deliver two upside-down babies my own way.  The TV was still on and Stephen A and Skip Bayless were going at it, and I was in some of the worst pain I've ever felt.  Andy was on the phone with close family letting them know what was happening and finding someone to take Charlie for the night.  With the chaos, I feared all this was too much to take in for a 3 year old and I looked for Charlie around the room.  My eyes found him in a fit of frustration standing over at the window.  "AHOY!   I SAID AHOY!  DADDY IT'S BROKEN!  AHOY!"  Okay so he was fine.

The twins were delivered in a whirlwind and the C-Section is something I'll never forget.  You ladies who have had those really had me thinking it was rather easy... not so much.  They were yanked out, yes YANKED, and then they both cried for a moment before being whisked away to a waiting team of Neonatalogists.

Two months later both boys are over five pounds and doing far better than I ever could've prayed for.  Churches across the country put us on their prayer lists, church family stepped up and provided meals and childcare for Charlie.  Family and friends came from afar to help in any way they could.  Entire communities gave in encouragement and support and God provided.  Lucas Andrew and Sawyer Rodney will see, hear, smell, taste, grow, run, laugh, and love for as long a life as God gives them like any other little boys.

The boys are still in the hospital but will hopefully go home in a couple weeks and boy are we ready.  The commute to downtown Minneapolis and back, sometimes several times a day is consuming and my heart hurts every time I pull away from Abbott with empty car seats in my back seat.  I realize we aren't going to come up with any more time when they come home, but at least they'll be home.

Soooooooooo- I guess all this means I will have a lot more to blog about.  I'm fairly certain three little boys won't disappoint for some good stories and lessons learned.